Born Patricia Neal in Birmingham, Ala., comedienne-actress Flagg, 67, is a best-selling author, most notably with Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 blockbuster movie, Fried Green Tomatoes. Flagg worked on Broadway and appeared in the movies Five Easy Pieces, Rabbit Test, Grease and Crazy in Alabama, and early in her career was a staff writer for Allen Funt's Candid Camera.

Her most recent novel is I Still Dream About You.

Says Flagg, "Fried Green Tomatoes changed the way I write, the way I think, everything. I made a decision that I don't want to put out anything negative. I want to put out something that will help someone. That's why every book I write has a happy ending."